Which ram to pick to maintain the value.

[night_wolf_in]

alright. here are some facts, i need you guys to help me decide.

First im on budget. yeap, anywho. i intend to Q6600. but im kinda confused. i dont intend to do any OC, since im a noob in that area. here is the thing, prices n malaysian ringget. but dont compare it to dollers, just look at the numbers (prices) n let me know.

1 - Kingston DDR2 800 1GB (value ram) for 155RM ----- if i buy this one. ill buy two pices cost is 310
2- Kingston DDR2 667 1GB (value ram) for 95RM ----- if i buy this one. ill buy four pices cost is 380
3- Kingston DDR2 667 2GB (value ram) for 350RM ----- if i buy this one. ill buy two pices cost is 700 (expensive)
4- Crosair Twin 2X 1024-6400 DDR2 800 5-5-5-12 2GB for 350RM. so it is pair to give me 2GB cost is 350

i dont even know why im considering the croair. but will u help me.

n brand such as Patriot, Mukshen (value rams) are more expensive compared to the kingston ones

 

[Mondoman]

None of the above: buy 2x 1GB of the Kinston value ram for 190RM total. 32-bit Windows can only access about 3GB of RAM anyway, so getting 4GB is not worthwhile, and may not even function properly on your MB.
DDR2-667 speed is fast enough even for 1333MHz FSB, and your CPU runs at 1066MHz FSB.

 

[jt001]

Option 2 sounds like the best pick. Since you won't be OCing, you won't need anything more than 667.

@Mondoman: Where do you see that he uses a 32-bit OS or Windows at all for that matter?

 

[night_wolf_in]

None of the above: buy 2x 1GB of the Kinston value ram for 190RM total. 32-bit Windows can only access about 3GB of RAM anyway, so getting 4GB is not worthwhile, and may not even function properly on your MB.
DDR2-667 speed is fast enough even for 1333MHz FSB, and your CPU runs at 1066MHz FSB.

true, i read that. XP 32bit. will utilize 3.2 (but if i take 4. it might be useful for later ons with vista, etc). ill keep the pc for another 3 years.

"may not even function properly on your MB". MB = Mobo? yeah, ill be buying a new MB as well, im deciding one piece at a time. or u think that even a new Mobo wont funtion well with 4 GB ram?

n yes jt001. what u said is true. coz ill use xp for now. later maybe vista, coz i said. this pc will live with me for the next 3-4 years. (talk about being poor n wanting to game badly) lol

 

[mis33]

Even if you are running XP-32bit, 4 GB still gives you an usable memory of 3.2 GB. The OS will have more memory to use, less page faults. Depending how many applications you run in parallel, this may make a difference in performance.

Many MBs have problems to work with 4 memory sticks. You may have to increase the voltage to get them all working. I am looking into 2x2GB option but the choices are limited.

 

[night_wolf_in]

Many MBs have problems to work with 4 memory sticks. You may have to increase the voltage to get them all working. I am looking into 2x2GB option but the choices are limited.

ill probably get Asus p5k, or Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3. mind explaining why it might wont work properly, or why ill have to increase voltage (and which voltage that is)?

 

[mis33]

No idea why. This is what I read from various tech forums. Some cannot even get all 4 sticks working even with increased voltage.

The memory voltage can be adjusted in the BIOS.

 

[night_wolf_in]

oh, ic. so working four sticks is just not feasable. sigh, i think ill just get two sticks of them then.

 

[Mondoman]

4 sticks *can* work. The better quality the memory and the better quality the MB, the better the chance of running 4 sticks without problems. The issue is just that the signals from the memory controller in the NB are split up to go to each DIMM, so the more DIMMs installed, the weaker the signals to each individual DIMM. Sometimes slightly increasing the DIMM voltage and/or the north bridge voltage can fix this issue.
As for the 4GB, some MBs that can take only a maximum of 4GB of RAM are not happy with the full 4GB installed. This shouldn't be the case, but I have seen it happen. Since 32-bit Windows (both XP and Vista) will only "see" about 3GB out of the 4GB anyway, you'll likely be better off installing 2x1GB + 2x512MB for a total of 3GB.

 

[night_wolf_in]

4 sticks *can* work. The better quality the memory and the better quality the MB, the better the chance of running 4 sticks without problems. The issue is just that the signals from the memory controller in the NB are split up to go to each DIMM, so the more DIMMs installed, the weaker the signals to each individual DIMM. Sometimes slightly increasing the DIMM voltage and/or the north bridge voltage can fix this issue.
As for the 4GB, some MBs that can take only a maximum of 4GB of RAM are not happy with the full 4GB installed. This shouldn't be the case, but I have seen it happen. Since 32-bit Windows (both XP and Vista) will only "see" about 3GB out of the 4GB anyway, you'll likely be better off installing 2x1GB + 2x512MB for a total of 3GB.

i intend to get Asus P5K. which was used by tom's hardware for budget motherboard in that marathon. and the maximum should be 8GB for that mother board. i checked in two places. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131185

i really want more than 2GB. but i dont want to go into trouble after buying it (since return policy here is not that simple). SO, should i buy 2x1GB + 2x512MB for a total of 3GB? (4 sticks) as u said.

 

[ausch30]

i intend to get Asus P5K.

If your concerned about compatability go to Asus's site and check out the QVL for the board your looking for, it will tell you which memory has been tested and approved to work with that board. It also lists which RAM works with 1, 2, and 4 sticks installed.

 

[night_wolf_in]

If your concerned about compatability go to Asus's site and check out the QVL for the board your looking for, it will tell you which memory has been tested and approved to work with that board. It also lists which RAM works with 1, 2, and 4 sticks installed.

alright, i did that. n here what i found

DDR2 667 512MB KINGSTON D6408TEBGGL3U 5 KINGSTON SS KVR667D2N5/512 A B C
DDR2 667 1024MB KINGSTON D6408TEBGGL3U 5 KINGSTON DS KVR667D2N5/1G A B C
DDR2 667 256MB KINGSTON HYB18T256800AF3S 5 N/A SS KVR667D2N5/256 A B C
DDR2 667 256MB KINGSTON 6SBI2D9DCG 5 MICRON SS KVR667D2N5/256 A B C
DDR2 667 2048MB KINGSTON E1108AB-6E-E N/A ELPIDA DS KVR667D2N5/2G A B C

A : Supports one module inserted in any slot as Single-channel memory configuration
B : Supports one pair of modules inserted into eithor the blue slots or the black slots as one pair of Dual-channel memory configuration
C : Supports 4 modules inserted into both the blue and black slots as two pairs of Dual-channel memory configuration

so does this means, i can get 2 X 1GB + 2 X 512MB. n balance them. like in first channel i put 1GB+512MB and the second channel 1GB+512MB. without having problems? or u say that i might still get problem?

it also says.
if you install four 1 GB memory modules, the system may only recognize less than 3GB becaue the address space is reserved for other critical functions. this liitation appears on windows XP/Vista 32bit opration system which does not support physical address extension (PAE)

isnt XP supposed to see 3.2GB and not less than 3 GB of ram?

 

[ausch30]

it's very complicated as to how much much RAM is actually recognized, it depends on video RAM and other components in the system which have onboard memory. Here http://www.dansdata.com/askdan00015.htm is a good article explaining it.

 

[rodney_ws]

2 GB of RAM here is about the same price as a top-tier PC game... maybe America doesn't suck that bad.

 

[night_wolf_in]

2 GB of RAM here is about the same price as a top-tier PC game... maybe America doesn't suck that bad.

lol. thatswhy use torrents for games. opps.

so, i read that article Ausch30

my question which i still need confirmation from the vetrans n knowledgable people is " i can get 2 X 1GB + 2 X 512MB. n balance them. like in first channel i put 1GB+512MB and the second channel 1GB+512MB. without having problems?"

 

[ausch30]

Yes actually there are a fair amount of people doing just that to get to 3gb. You may or may not be able to use all of it but you'll at least be able to use most of it and running that way will run dual-channel.

 

[night_wolf_in]

yeah, thanks again. ill be doing that. again thanks.